TV Scope - Nip/Tuck: Plastic surgery has had a bad run recently in medical drama. First there was Dan, the coke-snorting, pill-popping surgeon on the run from England, who turned up in plush south Dublin in RTÉ's The Clinic, and now there are Chris and Sean, the antiheroes of Sky's new serial, Nip/Tuck.
The seafront building in Miami where they work looks very like the Blackrock Clinic, but let's hope the similarity ends there.
They run an ethically dubious business where no cosmetic procedure, however outlandish, is refused. It's all boobs, bums, Botox and bonking, with little attention to burns or bat ears. The action is punctuated by frequent images of parts of bodies being sliced open, augmented or readjusted, and what seems like tons of fat being removed by liposuction. These look like genuine shots of plastic surgery or else they're terrific special effects.
Most of the real action, however, takes place outside the office. Chris behaves in a way which in Ireland would keep the Fitness to Practice Committee of the Medical Council in work for a year on his case alone. In the first two episodes he is guilty of the following offences - bedding a gorgeous model, and later a pair of identical twins (simultaneously), who all happen to be his patients; attempting to buy drink in a night-club for a minor; assaulting a lap-dancer; and soliciting work by flashing his business card in non-clinical settings. At the same time, he is paying serious attention to Sean's wife, an old flame from medical school. He also enjoys sailing his yacht Boatox.
Sean's family is dysfunctional. His marriage is rocky, he spends little time at home because of work and his wife feels neglected (cue the arrival of Chris). He moves out of home briefly, but his attempts at "dating" are half-hearted. He returns home and is reconciled with his wife. Meanwhile, his son, who has an obsession with his foreskin, and has been advised by both Chris and Sean to leave it alone, is upstairs carrying out an auto-circumcision, via a website, with a cuticle scissors.
Sean and Chris operate the clinic in a manner reminiscent of the good cop/bad cop. Their intra-operative banter is as good as anything from MASH - "will we work front to back or top to bottom?"
Much of the humour is close to the bone. As the surgeons discuss circumcision during a coffee break, the camera zooms in on a staff member slicing a cucumber. Sean wears a blue coat when consulting, making him look more like a deliveryman than a doctor, but perhaps in medical fashion in Miami, blue is the new white.
The show is funny, well-acted and satirical towards the consumer/cosmetic end of plastic surgery; there is very little emphasis on the truly heroic nature of plastic surgery which can restore hope and quality of life to people damaged by severe burns or handicapped by disfiguring birthmarks.
Like any surgery, plastic surgery carries intra- and post-operative risks; Olivia Goldsmith, author of The First Wives' Club, died a few weeks ago from complications of a plastic procedure designed to repair damage done by a previous facelift. There has been much concern in recent years about the qualifications and experience of some plastic/cosmetic surgeons.
Is Nip/Tuck a true reflection of modern plastic surgery? Perhaps, Jim, as Mr Spock might say, but not as we know it. If you find yourself in Miami and in urgent need of a facelift, resist the urge and come home as soon as you can.
Dr Charles Daly is a General Practitioner in Co Waterford